Good Friday January fourteenth as we open God’s word to grow in wisdom and truth.
Mark moves on-
Mark tells us that after Jesus was baptized immediately Jesus was led away by the Spirit and angels to be taken care of. I have a granddaughter who runs cross country in high school and a grandson who ran in college and has competed in several iron man races who is now in the navy wanting to be in Special Forces, and both give it their all when they compete. After a race though, after putting all they had in that race, they are wiped out, physically exhausted needing to cool down, hydrate and get some calories. Jesus was led from the river Jordan into the wilderness, what is significant for us believers to grasp is the wilderness represents all the ills of this world, a place where rebellion pops out and temptations by the enemy attack us. The wilderness, Jesus was taken directly from the river Jordan into the wilderness where for forty days He ate or drank nothing. As my grandson and granddaughter finish their runs immediately they are taken care of given water and something to eat. Jesus was led to the wilderness again, a place in this case representing places or times in our lives we are not walking or talking with God, alone in a sense where the enemy is ready to pounce on us. The nation of Israel after being freed from Egypt had to cross the wilderness and had to decide if they would remain in the wilderness or be claimed by the Lord. Deuteronomy 32:10 “He found him in a desert land, and in the howling waste of a wilderness; He encircled him, He cared for him, He guarded him as the pupil of His eye.” Desert land, a place of drought heat and loneliness, as us who attempt to survive without the Lord, notice when Jesus was taken into the wilderness it was here that Jesus was tempted by Satan offering the world if He would deny God the Father and follow Satan. Jesus after forty days of fasting, His body exhausted refused the temptation with a human body defeated the enemy’s temptation and why so you and I would be able to gravitate to the Lord for strength in our lives. We learn this from Luke’s gospel because Mark moves on wanting to get to the teachings of the Lord. So let’s move on and read together from Mark 1:14-15 “Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.” While Jesus was beginning His teachings John the Baptist was arrested and imprisoned, now Mark says nothing about John’s situation but we learn from John’s gospel Harrod had John put in prison for speaking against his relationship with his brother’s wife. Here Mark moves on past this incident to the beginning of Jesus’ teaching ministry. Remember John said the kingdom of God is coming and here Jesus says “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.” The kingdom of God has arrived no longer do we have to wait but trust in the One who is the Kingdom of God in life. Matthew 4:17 “From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Mark moves quickly to center on the teachings of Jesus but we all are needed in spreading the Gospel’s message. Are you kingdom minded? Remnant
